Around Us

Published 1:00 pm, Friday, April 15, 2011

AMARILLO - An autopsy was scheduled today in the killing of an Amarillo boy in what authorities describe as a possible accidental shooting involving two teenagers.

The incident happened late Wednesday when a 15-year-old boy fired a large-caliber semiautomatic handgun, hitting a 14-year-old in the upper body.

The younger boy died an hour later in an Amarillo hospital.

No charges have been filed and authorities are still investigating.

The 15-year-old was questioned then released to his parents. - Amarillo Globe News

• • •

SUDAN - Two boys who previously lived in Sudan were found dead in Graham on Thursday morning.

Authorities in Graham arrested the boys' father, 28-year old Gabriel Armandariz, and charged him with capital murder.

Two-year-old Gatlin and 6-month-old Luke lived with their mother, Lauren Smith, in Sudan. Armandariz would visit once a week until he could move from Graham, but Wednesday he took the boys without Smith's consent. Armandariz sent Smith a picture text message that showed a fabric wrapped around one boy's neck like a noose.

An extensive search involving the Young County Sheriff's Office and a Texas Ranger warden was launched to try to find the boys.

Armandariz is being held in the Young County Jail on a $1.5 million bail. If convicted, he faces life in prison or death by lethal injection. - Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

• • •

AMARILLO - Joseph Mata III, 32, was killed Thursday after he lost control of his 1996 Honda and spun into a guardrail while traveling east on I-40.

It took a dozen firefighters to free Mata from his car. He was transported to a hospital where he died a few hours later.

The wreck closed two lanes of westbound I-40. - Amarillo Globe News

• • •

LUBBOCK - A Lubbock woman said she lost her unborn baby after her boyfriend choked and assaulted her this past weekend. She was 14 weeks pregnant with his child.

The woman confirmed to an Avalanche-Journal reporter she was pregnant and lost the child as a result of the attack by her boyfriend. The woman declined to discuss details about the incident, which occurred Sunday.

Ernest Sustaita, 32, was behind bars Thursday at the Lubbock County Detention Center in lieu of a $100,000 bond charged with felony domestic assault with the enhancements of strangulation and a prior record involving assault and injury to a child. Lubbock Police Sgt. Jonathan Stewart said he couldn't comment on whether the department would pursue additional charges in relation to the mother's claim the unborn baby died as a result of the attack. Stewart also declined to confirm the fetus' death. - Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

• • •

LUBBOCK - Lubbock police officer Aaron Gast was treated and released Thursday from University Medical Center after he suffered minor injuries when a suspected drunken driver hit his patrol car.

Authorities arrested Bentley Ragains, 26, who was not injured.

Police officials say Gast's vehicle was parked at an angle with emergency lights on in the 100 block of South Loop 289 as the officer investigated an accident, which occurred shortly before 2 a.m.

Authorities say a car believed driven by Ragains headed east on Loop drive and ploughed into the patrol car.

The crash was the second in a week where a suspected intoxicated driver hit a Lubbock police officer's vehicle. A suspect ran a flashing red light at Fourth Street and Texas Tech Parkway at 2:45 a.m. Sunday. That officer was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries and released. - Lubbock Avalanche-Journal